Next time, RJ will get a heat check

Richard Jefferson is different this year, all right. In his post-game interview Wednesday, for example, he smiled.

He should have after what he did. And after Jefferson talked about other differences between last year and now — how he has learned to fire instead of read — he credited his teammates.

“They were swinging the ball and finding me,” Jefferson said, “which is what Pop has been preaching.”

Gregg Popovich might preach something else next time.

When Jefferson is throwing in three consecutive 3-pointers in the span of a minute, as he did Wednesday, why not keep finding him?

For the Spurs, it’s a minor tweak on a night of encouragement. Tim Duncan took advantage of a Suns franchise that didn’t re-sign Amare Stoudemire, and his block with 49 seconds left on Hakim Warrick defended a 2-point lead. Tiago Splitter played as advertised in his second NBA game, with intelligence and quick feet. And James Anderson showed both his shooting stroke and considerable calm for a rookie in the fourth quarter.

Still, it was Jefferson’s night. With the Spurs down one point with just under seven minutes left, he went to the same corner and duplicated the same stroke on three consecutive possessions.

This is really not who he is. Last season he played 81 regular season games for the Spurs, and only once did he make three or more 3-pointers. He shot only 32 percent from that distance last year, and for his career he’s around 35. He might be the fifth best 3-point shooter on this roster.

But he’s clearly more confident now, and, as he proved Wednesday, he’s certainly capable of a shooting streak. Jefferson was in such a zone, in fact, he deserved what NBA players call a heat check. Why not see just how crazy hot he can be?

After his third consecutive three, however, Phoenix called time and the Spurs acted as if they should move on to something else. Tony Parker and Antonio McDyess both missed long jumpers, Duncan lost the ball in the post and Manu Ginobili clanged one from close range.

Jefferson touched the basketball once over these five minutes, when he traveled, and the Spurs went down by three.

He may have changed, but have the Spurs in how they see him? They treated Jefferson as they would have last year.

The Spurs would only score one more basket the rest of the night. That came when Ginobili finally flipped the ball to the corner, where Jefferson couldn’t miss.

Sean Elliott, working the broadcast, joked then about the Suns’ lack of attention to Jefferson. “Have they figured out Richard can shoot?” Elliott said.